4.0 GPA in College Overrated They're Saying?

JackpotJohnny · March 26, 2017

This thread is hysterical. Listening to everyone argue the merits of their college GPA in in the real world. When they are just going to get out of college and end up with a sub 50k entry level job, and student loans they can't afford to pay back anyways.

A $50k a year job out of college becomes a $100k job around the age of 30-32. So yeah, the first few years suck. You're underpaid and will work harder than you think you can at times. You will work your hardest those first few years out of school and will make the least amount of money in your career. But wait about 8-10 years and that $50k desk job you had when you struggled to pay your student loans will become a $100k office job.

You do realize you said 10 years right?

So here's the pitch...go to college, kill yourself studying really hard and getting a high gpa, and 10 years after you graduate, in your 30s you'll finally start to make enough money that you can afford to pay your bills and have a decent meal once in awhile.

That is of course if you want to spend your life in the part of the country where 100k is still considered a decent living.

Man no wonder 3/4 of the millennials now days are on benzo's

MtlJeff · March 26, 2017

This is a serious question and forgive me because i'm not American. Why is 100K salary not that great? I understand in places like NY or California where real estate can be crazy so that is obvious

But there's tons of places where real estate really doesn't seem so bad. Heck Jordan Spieth's palace in Dallas was like 1-2M dollars or something. In Toronto or Vancouver that house would be 10X the price. And Canadians in most provinces are taxed more though we get cheaper education.

If you have a household income in Montreal of say, 150k. You can live pretty comfortably even with kids. I mean you're not going to the Bahamas every winter but as long as your wife doesn't have a Michael Kors fetish and you are fine driving a Camry you'll be pretty good. If you make that household income without kids you are basically laughing.

I thought that would get you a lot more in the US

longshot300 · March 26, 2017

This is a serious question and forgive me because i'm not American. Why is 100K salary not that great? I understand in places like NY or California where real estate can be crazy so that is obvious

But there's tons of places where real estate really doesn't seem so bad. Heck Jordan Spieth's palace in Dallas was like 1-2M dollars or something. In Toronto or Vancouver that house would be 10X the price. And Canadians in most provinces are taxed more though we get cheaper education.

If you have a household income in Montreal of say, 150k. You can live pretty comfortably even with kids. I mean you're not going to the Bahamas every winter but as long as your wife doesn't have a Michael Kors fetish and you are fine driving a Camry you'll be pretty good. If you make that household income without kids you are basically laughing.

I thought that would get you a lot more in the US

I was thinking the same thing myself. I easily can think of my mother because she wasn't making $100k per year and the household salary wasn't even close to it, yet it was still very manageable do make it a decent living from where I lived.

New York and Cali, yes, very expensive even for $100k. Boston is also pretty expensive, as a Mass. native, but a bunch suburb towns around Boston and West of is easy for $100k. My cousin, who is 35 with a wife and a kid, are living pretty comfortable outside of Boston. I'm more central Mass and not even close to making $100k/year, but it's comfortable.

SilverBullets · March 26, 2017

This is a serious question and forgive me because i'm not American. Why is 100K salary not that great? I understand in places like NY or California where real estate can be crazy so that is obvious

But there's tons of places where real estate really doesn't seem so bad. Heck Jordan Spieth's palace in Dallas was like 1-2M dollars or something. In Toronto or Vancouver that house would be 10X the price. And Canadians in most provinces are taxed more though we get cheaper education.

If you have a household income in Montreal of say, 150k. You can live pretty comfortably even with kids. I mean you're not going to the Bahamas every winter but as long as your wife doesn't have a Michael Kors fetish and you are fine driving a Camry you'll be pretty good. If you make that household income without kids you are basically laughing.

I thought that would get you a lot more in the US

Outside of a handful of cities in the country, $100k is a very good amount of money in the US. Yeah if you are in SF, NYC, San Diego, maybe D.C., and other California cities, $100k is light. But $100k goes a very long way in most cities in the US. Believing otherwise is simply wrong.

$100k is significantly more than the median household income. It is a very comfortable amount of money. Sure if you have 3 kids and a soouse, you aren't taking a ton of big vacations. But if you are single or a married couple.. with even 1 kid.. you are living pretty comfortable.

SilverBullets · March 26, 2017

This thread is hysterical. Listening to everyone argue the merits of their college GPA in in the real world. When they are just going to get out of college and end up with a sub 50k entry level job, and student loans they can't afford to pay back anyways.

A $50k a year job out of college becomes a $100k job around the age of 30-32. So yeah, the first few years suck. You're underpaid and will work harder than you think you can at times. You will work your hardest those first few years out of school and will make the least amount of money in your career. But wait about 8-10 years and that $50k desk job you had when you struggled to pay your student loans will become a $100k office job.

You do realize you said 10 years right?
So here's the pitch...go to college, kill yourself studying really hard and getting a high gpa, and 10 years after you graduate, in your 30s you'll finally start to make enough money that you can afford to pay your bills and have a decent meal once in awhile.

That is of course if you want to spend your life in the part of the country where 100k is still considered a decent living.

Man no wonder 3/4 of the millennials now days are on benzo's

If you can't live off $60-$70k in your early to mid 20's then you have other issues.

I don't really get the argument here. So is the argument don't go to college? Hope you are lucky enough to hit it big on some App? Or get a trade skill which are going way everyday as more and more tasks get automated? What's your suggestion? Skip college? I mean even if you develop trade skills, your earnings potential have a much lower ceiling.

Going to college doesn't mean you are going to be rich or make a ton of money. You go to college to develop skills. You use those skills and add hard to work to build a career. A career builds wealth. Anyone who believes just because they went to college they should be rich or making crazy money is simply ignorant and entitled.

It's the same theory as people who go get their MBA and then are mad when they don't immediately get a raise or a promotion. The MBA helps you build and develop skills. Those skills can help you grow your career and develop yourself. But simply because you took a bunch of test and got another piece of paper doesn't mean you are immediately worth more money.

Falang_Golfer · March 26, 2017

I do some hiring in engineering for a respected and somewhat hard to get into tech company. I look at GPA especially for interns, but certainly not the deciding factor. Usually the interview process will weed out the people who just take tests well vs the ones we really want. Internships and referrals definitely help big time. But yea if nobody knows you a 3.9 from MIT stands out way more than a 3.3 from Kentucky Western. Sorry if you went there, just trying to pick a relatively unknown college! ;)

J_Tizzle · March 27, 2017

Yeah I think you it also needs to be assessed where that $100K salary is made. $100K in SF or Boston or NY is like entry level I'd think just since the cost of living is so high. $100K in Springfield, MO is pretty solid income.

So I don't really feel bad is someone goes and spends $75K on college and comes out with a bunch of student debt, then moves back to their small home town to open an insurance company and make $35K a year. If you do that, you have made a poor decision, lol.

SilverBullets · March 27, 2017

Yeah I think you it also needs to be assessed where that $100K salary is made. $100K in SF or Boston or NY is like entry level I'd think just since the cost of living is so high. $100K in Springfield, MO is pretty solid income.

So I don't really feel bad is someone goes and spends $75K on college and comes out with a bunch of student debt, then moves back to their small home town to open an insurance company and make $35K a year. If you do that, you have made a poor decision, lol.

Exactly. And to be honest, the cities in the US where $100k is entry level and doesn't go a long way, are the exceptions. There are like 5 or 6 cities where that is 'entry' level. NYC (and greater NYC area), SF (bay area in general), Boston, and DC are areas where $100k doesn't go very far. San Diego and LA are borderline but I think you could still be fairly comfortable. You may not own a home in San Diego making $100k but you could still be comfortable.

Other than that, $100k in the US goes pretty far. And that leaves a ton of major markets to live and work in. People act like NYC and SF are the only places where good jobs are.

cdnglf · March 27, 2017

http://www.statcan.g...mil105a-eng.htm

According to this table, only ~13% of Canadians make more than 100k/year, and less than 5% make more than $150k.

Not sure if this accurately tracks people who aren't salaried employees, though.

For example, I know a lot of independent consultants who operate as incorporated companies. Their companies might invoice 150k+/year, but they only pay themselves 100k/year or less. The rest is retained in the company (small business corp tax rate is lower than the higher personal brackets), used to pay business expenses that they still derive some personal benefit from, paid as income to an otherwise lower-earning spouse, etc.

I think this might be less common in the US than Canada because of the challenges of getting health insurance as in independent, but I don't know for sure.